2010-10-31

Get Your Cold Dead Clown Hands Off Me

I've been very lazy the past 2 weeks, I only keyed up a half-dozen rooms or so. I've got about a dozen more to go. I'll see if I can finish it up tomorrow night and add a bit of polish to some rooms that I'm not quite satisfied with.

For tonight, though, I've got an idea for the second level. The second level is the primary hunting ground of the morlocks, so it's going to have fat-n-juicy vermin. It will also have a troglodyte tribe, and I might toss in a minor hive mind & his goblin minions. Most fearsome of all, though, will be the horrible Painted Men.

As the not-yet-named megacorporation delved further into the Anomalous Subsurface Environment, and solidified their hold on the upper levels, they converted the rooms to their own use. Conference rooms, labs, dining, kitchens, and labs are all present on the first level. The second level was also pretty well conquered by the megacorp, and turned over to its use. A large chunk of this level was used for living quarters and day care, for the families of the scientists and explorers sequestered in this dark pit.

When the ASE was sealed off 3,000 years ago, the humans within were left to fend for themselves in the dark. Some evolved into screechmen and morlocks (or were these always there, waiting to be born into this sunless pit?). On the second level, family values ruled over all other considerations. The trapped families there turned their attention to amusing their children, and their children's children, and so on, attempting to push back the darkness with hope and love.

It didn't work, of course. Their chambers contain the decrepit remains of funhouses, carousels, and other carnival rides and games. The things that live their now have been twisted by the passing of millenia within the megadungeon, and are now the Painted Men.

Yes, clowns. I fear clowns. Their unchanging expressions hide their true emotions and intents. All clowns hold murder in their hearts.

There are tons of opportunities for goofy "special" encounters and random magical effects in a carnival. So I'll stick one underground, and fill it with malicious clowns. This may end up being more of a sub-level, as troglodytes wouldn't put up with roaming around the fairgrounds. Plus, I'm pretty sure my players would kill me if I filled 100 rooms with clowns.

Whatever other humanoids reside on the second level, they will have learned to fear the Painted Men and their fearsome blend of butchery, cannibalism, and slapstick hilarity.